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Child Life Professional Certification Candidate Manual

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Child Life Professional Certification Candidate Manual Child Life Professional Certification Candidate Manual September 2021 The child life profession is a dynamic, challenging, and often competitive Certification is a vital step for child life discipline that demands excellence from its practitioners. In traditional specialists looking to sharpen their hospital settings and beyond, child life specialists are responding to a wide professional edge. The CCLS creden- variety of complex issues by applying their unique body of knowledge and tialing program is a voluntary, rigor- skills. As child life professionals are continually challenged to demonstrate ous, examination-based professional their value and expertise to satisfy employer expectations, those individuals certification credential. The require- who have documented a basic mastery of child life theory and practice – ments for certification are based on and have the initiative to learn new skills – will become increasingly valua- academic and clinical experiences, and ble to their organizations. successful completion of the Child Life Professional Certification Examination, and are detailed herein. Why Become Certified? Contents: There are many benefits associated with becoming a Certified Child Life Spe- About Certification ...................... 2 cialist: Eligibility Requirements ............... 3 • Professional Identity: Earn the exclusive right to identify yourself Coursework Requirement Detail .. 4 as a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS), the only credential issued in the child life profession Eligibility FAQs ............................ 9 • Recognition: Achieve formal acknowledgement of your profes- Eligibility Assessment ................ 11 sional accomplishment Exam Fees ................................. 13 • Advancement: Benefit from enhanced career opportunities, with Eligibility Assessment FAQs ....... 14 the potential for increased salary Exam Registration/Deadlines .... 15 • Respect: Validate your specialized knowledge and expertise to peers, management and other interdisciplinary colleagues. Testing Accommodations........... 15 • Growth: Dedicate yourself to continued professional excellence Scheduling Changes ................... 15 through education and professional development About the Exam/How to Prepare 16 • Esteem: Improve your credibility with hospital administrators and Exam Day Policies ...................... 17 the general public After the Exam/Score reporting . 18 • Passion: Demonstrate your commitment to the child life profes- Retaking the Exam .................... 19 sion • Pride: Enjoy elevated self-esteem and satisfaction in your work Maintaining Certification .......... 20 Child Life Code of Ethics ............. 21 Exam Content Outline ............... 20 Forms ....................................... 24 Please read this document carefully! Any questions should be directed to [email protected]. Page 2 Child Life Professional Certification Candidate Manual What is child life certification? How do I become a Certified Child Life Specialist? Child life certification is the process by which, after verifi- Applicants for certification must establish eligibility be- cation that an individual has met predetermined and fore they are seated for the Child Life Professional Certi- standardized criteria, they are granted time-limited recog- fication Examination. Eligibility requirements are ex- nition and use of the Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) plained on the following pages. credential. There are no exceptions made to the requirements. The Child Life Professional Certification Program is admin- Establishing eligibility for, taking and passing the Child istered by the Child Life Certification Commission (CLCC), Life Professional Certification Examination is the only Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) staff, and a way to become a Certified Child Life Specialist. professional testing agency. The program fosters uniform standards of practice and ethical conduct among child life Child Life Code of Ethics specialists. In addition, child life certification promotes protection for the general public from untrained individu- Application for the CCLS credential and maintenance als entering into an inappropriate relationship with chil- thereof require compliance with the Child Life Code of dren and families. Ethics, a body of ethical principles which is derived primarily for the benefit and protection of infants, chil- To achieve the CCLS credential, each candidate must satisfy dren, youth and families in settings where the poten- all educational and experiential requirements established tial for damaging stress or trauma exists. The Child Life by the CLCC, and must demonstrate an acceptable level of Code of Ethics may be found on page 21. knowledge of child life theory and practice by successfully completing the Child Life Professional Certification Exami- There is a process in place by which consumers and nation. The eligibility requirements for the exam are ap- others may report complaints related to the behavior- plied fairly, impartially, and consistently within applicable al conduct of CCLS credential holders on the ACLP laws, including all US government nondiscriminatory stat- website. There are also CLCC policies regarding the utes and laws. criminal background of applicants and certificants. Those who successfully complete the exam become certi- All applicants and credential holders are required to fied for a five-year period. During this five-year cycle, acknowledge their agreement to abide by the Child CCLSs are required to pay maintenance fees, and in the Life Code of Ethics. fifth year of the cycle they must recertify, either by retaking the exam or through verification of required Professional Candidates and certificants who fail to abide by the Development Units (PDUs). code may have their certification suspended or re- voked. Certification is granted independently of a candidate’s membership in ACLP. Page 3 Eligibility Requirements Effective January 1, 2019 Effective January 1, 2019, to establish eligibility for the Child Life Professional Certification Exam, the following will be required of all candidates on or before the registration deadline for the exam administration for which they are applying: Academic Option 1: 1. Bachelor’s degree in any field of study -AND- 2. Coursework: must successfully complete 10 college/university courses as follows: Child life course taught by a CCLS A minimum of 2 child development courses that cover ages birth -18 Family systems course Play course Loss/bereavement or death/dying course Research course 3 additional courses in related content areas Additional information about the required courses can be found on the following pages - OR - Option 2: Degree from an ACLP-Endorsed Academic Program *An eligibility assessment must still be completed—additional instructions can be found on page 11 Clinical Applicants are required to complete a minimum of 600 hours of a child life clinical internship under the direct supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist who: • Maintains professional child life certification throughout the supervisory period • Has a minimum of 4,000 hours of paid child life clinical experience prior to the start of the supervisory period • Takes responsibility for the educational development and guidance of the candidate in the clinical setting Page 4 Child Life Professional Certification Candidate Manual Required Coursework Details • For each of the 10 required courses, it is recommended that students take a 3-credit course or the equiv- alent to have an appropriate depth of instruction. • A minimum of one full course must be completed for each of the required areas of study. (A minimum of two courses are required for the child development requirement.) • In order for a course to count, the required content must be the primary focus. • All points within the Required Content section of each course must be covered within the course. Appli- cants may not use the same course to meet 2 or more of these requirements. • Applicants are required to submit university-generated course descriptions when applying for an Eligibil- ity Assessment. • Applicants must be prepared to provide university-generated syllabi if requested. • Due to the limited involvement of the instructor in the curriculum being studied and uncertainty about whether it was equivalent to a traditional course, independent study courses are generally not accepted to fulfill the course work requirements needed to establish eligibility for the certification exam. 1. Child Life Required Child Life Content: • A minimum of 3 credit hours or unit equivalency is recommended. • There are 6 required areas of study that must be covered in this course. • All 6 areas must be addressed. • More than 1 course may be needed to fulfill this requirement. • The following content must be taught by a Certified Child Life Specialist® (CCLS) who meets the re- quirements below. Official Documents of ACLP/CLCC Family Centered Care Scope of Practice Therapeutic Play Impact of Illness Preparation Instructor Requirements: • Hold/maintain the CCLS credential throughout the period of instruction • A minimum of 4,000 hours of paid child life clinical experience OR a minimum of two years of experience teaching child life subject matter* • Maintains knowledge of the Association of Child Life Professionals Child Life Code of Ethics and the Offi- cial Documents of the Association of Child Life Professionals • Pursue training relevant to adult learning styles and evidence-based
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